The present invention relates generally to processing glass. More particularly, the present invention relates to processing cover glass used in portable electronic devices.
Conventionally, small form factor devices, such as handheld electronic devices, have a display arrangement that includes various layers. The various layers include at least a display technology layer, and may additionally include a sensing arrangement and/or a cover window disposed over the display technology layer. By way of example, the display technology layer may include or pertain to a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) that includes a Liquid Crystal Module (LCM). The LCM generally includes an upper glass sheet and a lower glass sheet that sandwich a liquid crystal layer therebetween. The sensing arrangement may be a touch sensing arrangement such as those used to create a touch screen. For example, a capacitive sensing touch screen can include substantially transparent sensing points or nodes dispersed about a sheet of glass (or plastic). In addition, the cover window, which is typically designed as the outer protective barrier, may be glass or plastic. However, glass tends to provide a better protective barrier given its strength and scratch resistance.
Further, rapid improvements in size and cost of digital camera technology have lead to integration of one or more digital cameras into various portable electronic devices. While such integration provides convenience in having camera functionality available, often quality of images or video captured by such integrated cameras suffers. Moreover, although images or video of dark scenes could benefit from a flash or other illumination, for various reasons including integration difficulties, flash or other illumination are often omitted from portable electronic devices.
Thus, in electronic devices there is a continuing need for improved approaches for camera integration with glass cover arrangements.